Blood pressure measuring apparatus

ABSTRACT

A blood pressure measuring apparatus includes an inflatable sleeve adapted to be wrapped about a limb of a patient. The sleeve includes an interior and at least one socket provided on an exterior surface of the sleeve, the socket being fluidly connected to the interior of the sleeve. A gage is directly attached to the sleeve socket through attachment of a mating engagement portion. A pneumatic bulb is also attached fluidly to the sleeve through a receiving port which is provided on at least one of the socket and the gage.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to the field of medical diagnosticinstruments, and in particular to a preferred interconnection between agage housing and an inflatable sleeve of a blood pressure measuringapparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typical blood pressure measuring instruments include an inflatablesleeve which is wrapped about the limb (i.e., arm or leg) of a patient.A pneumatic bulb is tethered by a hose and is fully interconnected tothe sleeve interior. A gage which includes a dial face having a set ofindicia is separately interconnected also by means of a hose to thesleeve interior. The gage includes an interior movement mechanism whichis responsive to changes in pressure within the sleeve interior. Thepressure changes produce circumferential movement of an indicatingmember attached to the movement mechanism relative to the set of indiciaon the dial face of the gage.

Both the gage and the pneumatic bulb are tethered individually to thesleeve which includes corresponding barbs or receiving ports whichpermit fluid communication with the interior of the sleeve.

More recently, Applicants have devised a blood pressure measuringapparatus, such as described in copending U.S. Ser. No. 09/669,474, theentire contents of which are incorporated by reference in which the gageis directly attached to a port or socket which is integrally provided inthe inflatable sleeve. This form of attachment is advantageous becausethe apparatus is far more compact than previously known devices of thistype. Furthermore, the attachment eliminates any need for hoses betweenthe gage and the inflatable sleeve. Moreover, the gage can be rotatablyattached to the socket/sleeve permitting both left and right limbattachment and also allowing both a care giver and the patient to easilyread the dial face of the gage and perform a blood pressure measurement.

There is still a general need in the field, however, to further simplifythe manufacture and design of a blood pressure measuring apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an embodiment of the invention, there is described a bloodpressure measuring apparatus comprising an inflatable sleeve having atleast one port and a pneumatic bulb tethered to said sleeve through ahose, one end of said hose being attached to said pneumatic bulb and aremaining end of said hose being attached to a port on said sleeve. Themeasuring apparatus further includes a gage having a dial face withreadable indicia and a movement mechanism which is responsive to fluidpressure changes in said sleeve, said gage being directly attached tosaid at least one socket of said inflatable sleeve, the socketpermitting one end of the gage to be directly connected to the sleevewithout the use of a hose.

A port is provided to receive the hose end extending from the pneumaticbulb wherein this receiving port can be provided on at least one of thesleeve socket and the gage.

In either instance, and by providing the receiving port on either thesocket or the gage which directly mounts to the inflatable sleeve, thedesign and manufacturability of a blood pressure measuring apparatus isgreatly simplified in comparison to previously known apparatus of thistype.

According to another embodiment of the invention, there is described ablood pressure measuring apparatus including an inflatable sleeve havingat least one port sized for directly receiving a gage wherein the gageincludes an engagement portion which is sealingly fitted into said atleast one port. The gage further includes a receiving port for receivingfluid input from a pneumatic means, such as a depressible bulb which isattached thereto.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is discloseda blood pressure measuring apparatus including an inflatable sleevecontaining a pair or sockets each sized for receiving the mating end ofa gage. A receiving port is provided on at least one of the sockets orthe gage to permit attachment of a depressible bulb or other pneumaticmeans used to inflate the sleeve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the invention, reference will be made tothe following Detailed Description which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a prior art blood pressure measuringapparatus;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, in section of a prior art bloodpressure measuring apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevational view of a blood pressure measuringapparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial side elevational view of a blood pressure measuringapparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a top elevational view of a sleeve of a blood pressuremeasuring apparatus made in accordance with a third embodiment of theinvention, and

FIG. 6 is a sectioned view of a port adapter which can be attached tothe sleeve of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a prior art blood pressure measuringdevice or apparatus 10. An inflatable sleeve 14 made from a fluidimpermeable material includes a pair of ports 18, 22 which engage hoses19, 23 interconnecting the interior of the inflatable sleeve with apneumatic assembly 20 and a gage 25, respectively. The sleeve 14 iswrapped around a limb of a patient using a set of hook and loopfasteners 24 and is subsequently inflated by squeezing a depressiblebulb 21 which supplies air through the tethered hose 19 to the interiorof the sleeve. As air enters the interior of the sleeve, a movementmechanism (not shown in this Fig.) provided within the interior of thegage 25 causes a corresponding circumferential movement of an indicatingmember 28 relative to indicia provided on a dial face 29. Followingsufficient inflation of the wrapped sleeve 14, the sleeve 14 is deflatedusing a bleed valve 27 of the pneumatic assembly 20 and a blood pressuremeasurement is taken using a stethoscope (not shown) which is appliedover the brachial artery of the patient in conjunction with the readingstaken from the tethered gage 25 in a manner which is conventionallyknown.

A second prior art blood pressure measuring device 32 is partially shownin FIG. 2. In this instance, and rather than employing a hose inconnection therewith, a mating end of a gage 30 is directly andsealingly engaged within a socket 34 that is provided in an inflatablesleeve 38. In this embodiment, the inflatable sleeve 38 includes aninterior 40, the sleeve being made from a pair of sleeve portions 44,which are RF welded or otherwise attached together. A specific type ofsleeve which can be used for purposes of the present invention isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,718, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference, though it should be appreciated that othersleeve designs can be utilized. The socket 34 is defined through a slotprovided in one of the sleeve portions 44 and includes a open-endedcylindrical cavity having a bottom opening 42 that fluidly interconnectsthe interior 40 of the sleeve 38 with the interior of an attached gage30.

The gage 30 illustrated in FIG. 2 is herein described in greater detail,and includes an upper portion 78 which supports a dial face 82 having aset of measurement indicia (not shown) and a lower engagement portion 65which is received directly by the socket 34. A peripheral bumper 80 isfitted about the upper portion 78 of the gage 30 to protect thecontained movement mechanism from shock or impact loads. The gage 30includes an interior sized for retaining the movement mechanism whichincludes a diaphragm 114 having a movable surface 116 that is responsiveto pressure changes within the interior 40 of the sleeve 38. Thismovement mechanism is herein described in greater detail with regard tothe operation of the herein described apparatus.

In operation, the interior 40 of the sleeve 38 is inflated by squeezinga depressible bulb 21, FIG. 1, which is interconnected to the sleeve 30through a tethered interconnection to a port 18, FIG. 1. Squeezing thedepressible bulb 21, FIG. 1, inflates the interior 40 of the sleeve 38as air/fluid is pushed through the interconnecting hose 19, FIG. 1, intothe sleeve interior 40. As the sleeve 38 is inflated, pressure changesare sensed by the movement mechanism within the gage housing 30 asfollows.

Air entering the sleeve interior 40 is also caused to enter the gage 30through the socket opening 42 and also through an opening 68 provided atthe bottom of the gage. Entering air causes axial upward movement of themovable surface 116 of the diaphragm 114 which is imparted to the end ofan axially displaceable shaft member 130 which is vertically supportedtherein. The shaft member 130 is also caused to rotate as well astranslate due to constraints provided by a helically wound ribbon spring134 made from beryllium copper or other similar spring material. Theribbon spring 134 is supported at one upper end to an intermediateportion of the shaft member 130 and at an opposite end to a fixedportion of the gage 30.

Rotation of the shaft member 130 due to the flexion of the helicallywound ribbon spring 134 causes corresponding circumferential movement ofan attached indicating member 136 attached to an extending end of theshaft member. The indicating member 136 is disposed in relation to theindicia of the dial face 82. Additional details regarding the hereindescribed movement mechanism described herein are provided in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,966,829 and 6,120,458, the entire contents of each being hereinincorporated by reference, while further details relating to the socketand the direct interconnection of a gage to an inflatable sleeve areprovided in previously incorporated U.S. Ser. No. 09/669,474.

Having supplied the preceding background and now referring to FIG. 3,there is shown a blood pressure measuring apparatus 50 made inaccordance with a first embodiment of the invention. For purposes of thefollowing discussion, similar parts are identified with the samereference numerals for the sake of convenience.

An inflatable sleeve 38 includes an interior 40, the sleeve being madefrom a pair of sleeve portions 44, which are interconnected together aspreviously described. A specific type of sleeve which can be used forthese purposes is described in previously incorporated U.S. Pat. No.6,036,718. As previously noted, however, it should be apparent thatother bladderless and bladder-type sleeve designs can be utilized.

One of the sleeve portions 44 includes a socket 62 which is attached bywelding or other means to a slot, the socket being fluidlyinterconnected to the interior 40 of the sleeve 38 through an opening66. The socket 62 extends above the plane of the exterior of a sleeveportion 44 and includes a laterally projecting receiving port 86 whichis sized to receive a depending end of a hose 19 of a pneumatic assembly20, FIG. 1. The laterally projecting receiving port 86 includes athrough passage 88 which extends to the socket interior and includes abarb 87 onto which the hose can be attached.

The pneumatic assembly 20 includes a flexible depressible bulb 21, FIG.1, which is attached through the hose 19 and further includes bleedvalve 27, FIG. 1. Air which enters the socket 62 from the pneumaticassembly is communicated to the interior 40 of the sleeve 38 as well asthe interior of the attached gage 30.

The gage housing 30 according to this embodiment includes a movementmechanism (not shown in this Fig.) as described above such that airentering the socket 65 is directed into the sleeve interior 40 throughopening 66 and into the interior of the gage 30 through opening 68.

According to a second embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, a laterallyprojecting receiving port 106 can be similarly provided on the matingend 65A of a similar gage 30A, the receiving port being disposed apredetermined distance from the lower end of the gage to permit seatingof the gage 30A within the socket 34 of the inflatable sleeve 38.

In operation, the apparatus functions similarly wherein the hose 19 ofthe pneumatic assembly 20, FIG. 1, is attached to the barb 106 of thereceiving port 105. Squeezing the bulb 21, FIG. 1, permits air to bedirected into both the lower portion 65A of the gage 30A and theinterior 40 of the sleeve 30 based on the attachment of the gage to thesocket 34.

Following inflation in either embodiment, the bleed valve 27, FIG. 1,permits deflation of the inflatable sleeve 38 and a blood pressuremeasurement can be made using a stethoscope (not shown) which can beplaced over the brachial artery (in the case in which the limb is anarm, not shown) done in a conventional manner.

Other embodiments utilizing the inventive concepts described herein arepossible. For example and referring to FIG. 5, an inflatable sleeve 200similar to that previously described can be provided with a pair ofsockets 202, 204, each of the sockets being sized to directly accept themating or engagement end 65, FIG. 3, of a gage housing 30, FIG. 3, aspreviously described. Each of the sockets 202, 204 can, as in thisinstance, be similarly constructed with the gage 30, FIG. 3 including alaterally extending receiving port 86 such as previously described.Alternately, either or both of the sockets 202, 204 could include alaterally projecting receiving port 105, such as previously shown inFIG. 4.

Providing a pair of sockets 202, 206 on the inflatable sleeve 200provides significant versatility in the location of a gage 30, 30A whichis directly mounted thereupon.

According to yet another alternate variation, a port adapter 210 isillustrated in FIG. 6 which can also be used in conjunction with thesleeve 200, the adapter 210 being fitted into one of the sockets 202,204 to accept, for example, a hose 19 such as shown in FIG. 1 thereinand a gage 25 in the other of the sockets. The port adapter 210 includesa barb 212 which matingly receives the hose 19, FIG. 1, and a channel216 defining a fluid path to the interior of the sleeve 200. The adapter210 includes a plug-like end 220 which permits fluid-seal attachment toone of the sockets 202, 204.

PARTS LIST FOR FIGS. 1–6

-   10 blood pressure measuring apparatus-   14 inflatable sleeve-   18 port-   19 hose-   20 pneumatic assembly-   21 depressible bulb-   22 port-   23 hose-   24 hook and loop fasteners-   25 gage-   27 bleed valve-   28 indicating member-   29 dial face-   30 gage-   30A gage-   32 blood pressure measuring apparatus-   34 socket-   38 sleeve-   40 interior-   42 bottom opening-   44 sleeve portions-   50 blood pressure measuring apparatus-   62 socket-   65 engagement portion-   65A engagement portion-   66 opening-   68 opening-   78 upper portion-   80 peripheral bumper-   82 dial face-   86 laterally projecting receiving port-   87 barb-   88 through passage-   105 receiving port-   106 barb-   114 diaphragm-   116 movable surface-   130 axially displaceable shaft member-   134 ribbon spring-   200 sleeve-   202 socket-   204 socket-   210 port adapter-   212 barb-   216 channel-   220 plug-like end

While the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiments, it should be readily apparent that modificationsand variations are possible without departing from the intended scope ofthe invention as defined by the claims.

1. A blood pressure measuring apparatus comprising: an inflatable sleeveadapted to be wrapped about a limb of a patient, said sleeve includingan interior and at least one socket provided in an exterior surface ofsaid sleeve, said at least one socket including an opening that isfluidly and directly connected to the interior of said inflatablesleeve; a gage housing having an integral mating end releasably fitteddirectly into said at least one socket provided on the exterior surfaceof said sleeve; a pneumatic means for inflating said sleeve; and meansfor attaching said pneumatic means to said sleeve, said attaching meansincluding a receiving means provided on one of said at least onesocketand, said mating end of said gage housing and an adapterreleasably fitted into said at least one socket.
 2. An apparatus asrecited in claim 1, wherein said receiving means is provided on saidsocket.
 3. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein an axial portionof said socket extends above the exterior surface of said sleeve.
 4. Anapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said receiving means includes aport provided on the mating end of said gage housing.
 5. An apparatus asrecited in claim 4, wherein said port is provided a predetermineddistance from an end of said mating end of said gage housing along alength thereof.
 6. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein saidsleeve includes at least two sockets.
 7. An apparatus as recited inclaim 1, wherein said receiving means includes a port sized forreceiving a hose from said pneumatic means.
 8. An apparatus as recitedin claim 1, wherein said gage housing includes an opening at a distalend of said mating end, said opening extending to the interior of saidsocket.
 9. An apparatus as recited in claim 8, wherein said gage housingcontains an indicating mechanism that is responsive to pressure changesfrom said sleeve interior.
 10. A blood pressure measuring system, saidsystem comprising: a unitary flexible sleeve member which is adapted tobe wrapped around the limb of a patient, said sleeve member including anexterior surface and an inflatable interior; a gage housing having amating end; a hose adapter; and at least one socket provided within saidexterior surface, said at least one socket including an opening that isfluidly and directly connected to the inflatable interior of said sleevemember, said at least one socket being adapted for interchangeablyreceiving at least one of said gage housing and said hose adapter, saidgage housing and said hose adapter being releasably and directlyconnected in interchangeable fashion to said at least one socket withoutintermediate hoses therebetween, and in which each of said gage housingand said hose adapter are mechanically supported solely by said at leastone socket when connected to said sleeve member.
 11. A system as recitedin claim 10, wherein said at least one socket is secured to the exteriorsurface of said unitary flexible sleeve member.
 12. A system as recitedin claim 11, wherein said at least one socket is welded to the exteriorsurface of said unitary flexible sleeve member.
 13. A system as recitedin claim 10, wherein said sleeve member includes at least a pair ofsockets.
 14. A system as recited in claim 10, wherein said at least onesocket includes a substantially cylindrical body having a cavity, saidbody being substantially recessed within the interior of said unitaryflexible sleeve member and including an upper lip that is substantiallycoplanar with the exterior surface.
 15. A system as recited in claim 10,wherein said at least one socket is adapted to permit said at least oneof said gage housing and said hose adapter to be rotatably supportedthereupon.